Instead of thinking how bad a run will be, just enjoy your relaxing time!

Behind the scenes here at Salty Running, we get into many fun, informative, and supportive conversations. Recently Pumpkin was sharing her inner Bertha moment and questioning if she should do a workout even though she didn’t want to. I suggested she try the workout, but that she should not use her sluggish feelings before the workout as a reason to assume she will feel feel sluggish during the workout.

Dill then chimed in that our conversation reminded her about anticipatory grief. Anticipatory grief happens when we feel grief over a loss before that loss occurs. It’s very common when caring for a loved one suffering from a chronic illness or a dying elderly loved one, but anticipatory grief can also occur within the ill or dying person herself. Why does this happen? Partly, it’s because we think the loss will hurt less when it actually happens. Sadly, we can’t predict the future of how loss will affect us.

While anticipatory grief is a sad and serious concept, it has a very practical application to something that generally brings joy to our lives: running. Read more >>

The lumbering elephant of a school bus had been on its bumpy slog through the Black Hills of South Dakota for about 45 pitch black minutes when it suddenly slowed to a stop. I peered out the window and could only make out darkness and the outline of a few Port-a-Potties that were gently illuminated by the headlights of the school bus. When I stepped outside a blast of cold and nerves struck me and I began to shiver uncontrollably. I used the bathroom and climbed back into the comfortable blast of warmth coming from the school bus and took a seat next to my training partner Amie.

Then we waited. We waited in the darkness with just our thoughts and our nerves for more than an hour. Read more >>

The time is 11:30 p.m. You were supposed to be asleep at least an hour ago. Instead, here you are tossing and turning and fixating on the time that you HAVE to get up.

Alarm will go off at 5:30am.

I’ll snooze until 5:45am.

I have to rise by 5:45am.

REPEAT.

5:45AM!

Are you remembering that brain?

What if I don’t hear my alarm?

What if I miss the race?

Oh my God, it’s midnight now. I’m only going to get 5 hours of sleep, 5.5 if I’m lucky. That amount of sleep is definitely not ideal for racing a half marathon.

STOP. The first tip I have to offer in calming those pre-race nerves is to accept the fact that your sleep is likely going to suck the night before a race. That’s why it’s better to focus on getting a good night’s rest two or three nights out from race day. But the night before a race isn’t the only time we have to deal with those pesky pre-race nerves that Salty talked about a few weeks ago. The morning of the race can be pretty stressful, too. There are reasons for that; it’s not as all in your head as you think. Read more >>

For the first meet of the season, the North girls climbed onto a bus with their coaches and the boys’ team for the War on the Shore, an annual meet nearly an hour away in rural Ashtabula, Ohio, so close to the state border they were competing against Pennsylvanian teams.

Neither of the senior girls were racing today; top-runner Sydnie was focused on the bigger meet coming up on Saturday and Ashleigh was busy with a couldn’t-miss 4-H project. With the two most-experienced runners out, juniors Natalie and Vidhi stepped up to lead the team in a series of pre-race drills and a warm-up run. Coach James then gave them a few pre-race words of encouragement and lead them in a cheer.

But this being the first meet of the year, the first meet ever for some of the girls, the jitters were palpable. Read more >>

Over the winter, I discovered the joy of watching TED talks while getting in my treadmill miles. Almost every time I watched one I’d think darn, this applies to running! I should write a post about this! So guess what. I am. In this new occasional series, I’ll be bringing you a TED talk and will discuss how to apply the message of the talk to your running.

Our first talk is from psychologist, Kelly McGonigal and it’s called How to Make Stress Your Friend. How does this apply to running? Read on! Read more >>

Race day nerves are just part of the drill, right? In the days before a big race, adrenaline buzzes around your body, hopefully surging at the right time to bring you home to a PR. But what happens if you use that adrenaline unwisely, by going out too fast in the first couple miles? Or what if that adrenaline misfires even before the gun goes off, or worse, before you have even gotten to the race venue?

As I found out at a half a few weeks ago, you turn your race into an #epicfail. Take it from someone who’s been there and lived to tell the tale, it’s not pretty. But then again, it certainly is part of becoming a well-seasoned runner.

So just in case you want to get well-seasoned yourself and “enjoy” the same kind of experience, follow the jump to read my sto–er…I mean guidelines. Read more >>

When, at the beginning of a training cycle, I plug my training plan into my calendar and take an overview of the weeks about a month out from the race, I know it’s going to get tough. I know I’m going to have to take things one day at a time and accept the plan as it comes. It won’t be so bad, I think, I’ll be ready for it by then!

But now that I’m actually there, just a couple weeks out from the goal race, knocking down 15 milers and killing the 1000 meter repeats and clocking my heart rate at 80% and struggling to stay awake in the afternoons and running myself ragged trying to keep up with the rest of life…well… when I’m there, everything is different. The evil Self Doubt Gnome creeps into my brain and starts to run her mouth off.

What follows is a list of common phrases my self-doubt whispers into my ear. Hopefully by sharing my race anxieties I’ll be able to let them go. Use the comments to let go of your anxious thoughts too! Read more >>